Disorder characterises special voting in Brong Ahafo

There is total disorder at the Brong Ahafo Regional Police Headquarters where hundreds of special voters have gathered to cast their votes in this year’s general elections.

Electoral Commission (EC) officials are looking-on helplessly as personnel from the various security agencies jostle to find their names on the voters list in order to cast their votes.

Scores of the security personnel who found their names on the list stood in groups discussing their fate and wondered if they would be allowed to exercise their franchise on December 7, 2016 after today’s debacle.

The Sunyani East Constituency has a total of 1,216 names on the special voter’s list.

There are two polling stations for the Special Voting exercise, one at the Regional Police headquarters and another at the Liberation Barracks.

At about 10.50 am, a total of 128 people have voted at the regional police headquarters.

But most of the security officers instead of joining the queue have gathered around the EC officials to search for their names on the list.

“It is unfortunate that this is happening here. We have come to your premises and instead of behaving well you are making our work difficult for us”, the Presiding Officer, Mr Yaw Boadu Amaniampong told the Daily Graphic.

Voting, according to him started at 7.05 am.

“I cannot give the exact number of people who could not find their names on the list. They were several”, he said, standing helplessly as the officials of the security agencies jostled their way through the exercise".

He explained that in the early hours of the exercise, the security officials exchanged words in their desperation to find their names on the list.

Few civilians who were also there to cast their votes stood in awe as the officials of their security agencies broke the rules by refusing to join the queue and forcing their way through to take part in the exercise.

An official of the EC from the Tano North office, who refused to give his name, came to Sunyani to vote and was also disappointed since he could not find his name on the list.

“The exercise is very slow, my brother,” one of the security officers complained to Graphiconline.

Reports from other constituencies in the region also indicate that some of the early voters were unable to find their names on the Special Voting list.